June 17, 1953: An uprising Americans should remember
By Paul M. Weyrich
web posted June 16, 2003
June 17, 2003 will mark the 50th anniversary of the workers'
uprising in East Germany. The trigger was the interest expressed
by the ruling party, the SED, in instituting higher work norms
(i.e., more work at the same pay). Workers rebelled,
demonstrations occurred not just in East Berlin, but other cities
and towns throughout the country, catching officials on both the
East and the West by surprise. Moscow eventually gave the
order: Send in the troops. The unrest was crushed four days
after it started.
That would only be the first attempt by Eastern Europeans to
rebel against Communist domination. There were many other
brave people within the Soviet Union itself who would refuse to
give in to the evil and oppressive Communist regime.
By no means do I wish to diminish the evil of Nazism, having
visited the Holocaust Memorial and viewed the absolute
disregard for innocent human life demonstrated by the National
Socialist state. What the National Socialist regime did to
European Jewry was absolutely unconscionable and it is difficult
to imagine that it could happen. Thanks to the Museum,
Americans can never forget that the unthinkable actually did
occur in Europe under National Socialist rule. Survivors of the
Holocaust are regularly featured on television shows and in
movies and documentaries.
Unfortunately, Communism gets a pass in today's society.
Perhaps it is because during the Cold War the threat of nuclear
warfare led our statesmen and the news media to try to seek
common ground and to present the enemy in as humanly terms
possible.
Several generations of Americans have come to know our
enemies best from TV programs and movies such as "Hogan's
Heroes" and "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are
Coming." Nazi and Communist soldiers are shown to be benign,
sometimes even benevolent. Or else young Americans watch spy
pictures in which both sides' agents are shown to be more alike
than different, each relying on situational ethics to survive in an
amoral world. Too many young Americans simply do not
understand the true evil of these regimes and how they subverted
the rule of law and respect for innocent
life.
From my own travels in the Former Soviet Empire, I have met
many brave people who demonstrated great bravery by refusing
to surrender their beliefs and faith to the State.
There were the courageous Lithuanians who were killed by the
Soviets as they attempted to guard a transmitter. I was honored
to attend their funeral as an official representative of the United
States government. And just a few short months later, the Baltic
States were free.
I also recall the wonderful 85 year old Greek Catholic priest in
Romania who had spent over 40 years in prison and who had
just been released when I served the Liturgy with him. He had
such a wonderful, humble, upbeat, thankful attitude. The
Communists could not simply keep people of true faith like this
priest down.
We need to hear their stories too. They stood up for what was
right against a truly Godless regime. Many times, they were
people of faith or, at least, possessors of an innate sense of basic
human decency.
But Hollywood and too many Americans ignore those who
fought with bravery against the Soviet Union and its satellite
dictatorships. It ignores the reckless disregard for human life
exhibited by Stalin's purges and the collectivization policies that
led to the Great Famine. Americans need to learn just how brutal
Communist regimes could be in marshalling government force to
make the world conform to their viewpoint, no matter how many
innocent people would be trampled under in the process.
So right now, I am pleased to report of a reinvigorated effort to
build a Victims of Communism Memorial that would fully explain
to our country's citizens the moral bankruptcy of the Communist
system. It would also highlight the bravery of those who fought
this evil ideology and the brutal people who ran Communist
governments.
The Memorial's plans call for a "Roll Call of Victims" listing those
who suffered or were even killed by Communist regimes. And a
"Hall of Infamy" would show a Soviet Gulag barracks and a
torture room from the "Hanoi Hilton." No doubt the Memorial
would remind Americans that millions still live under Communism
in Cuba, China, and Vietnam.
The drive to establish the Memorial had been led by Lee
Edwards, a distinguished political science professor on the
faculty of Catholic University. He is now being succeeded by Jay
Katzen, a former state delegate from Virginia. Katzen is a
former Foreign Service Officer who brings energy and a can-do
attitude to his new position. But this is an ambitious task, and one
obstacle Katzen must overcome is the apathy exhibited by
millions of Americans about Communism.
The Communist system that could kill 100 million people is a
monstrous one, and those who fought it deserve our own
country's thanks. Those who were persecuted and ended up its
victims are, sadly, testament to the inhumanity of this regime.
Victimology in its false guises is now in vogue in our country; this
Memorial can demonstrate what it means to truly be a victim.
We need to profit from the modern-day example of commitment
and faith amidst a seemingly hopeless situation that was
demonstrated by heroes who have stood up to the regimes in
Russia and the Soviet Bloc and China. In the end, the
supporters of freedom prevailed against the forces of darkness in
Russia and the Eastern Bloc and that is a lesson we can all
benefit from in our own country.
Paul M. Weyrich is Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress
Foundation (ttp://www.FreeCongress.org).
Enter Stage Right -- http://www.enterstageright.com